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Once again, the world shook at the news of President Trump. This time, it wasn’t something Trump said or did, but rather the announcement that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Trump is not the first infected world leader. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain and President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil tested positive. And Johnson suffered a severe Covid-19 attack, ending up in an intensive care unit where, he later said, “things could have gone either way.”
But Trump, 74, is older and at greater risk than any of those men. The news that an American president contracted a potentially lethal virus had global repercussions beyond that of any other world leader. Financial markets fell in Asia and seemed willing to open lower in Europe and the United States.
Expressions of concern and good wishes for Trump’s speedy recovery, as well as that of First Lady Melania Trump, came from the leaders of India, Britain and other countries.
“I wish my friend @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a speedy recovery and good health,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
Britain’s Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “We all want to send our best wishes to President Trump, the first lady and the Trump family and wish them a speedy recovery.”
“We know what it is like to have, in our case, a prime minister who tested positive for Covid and politics aside, we all want him and his wife to get better soon,” Jenrick said on Sky News.
However, some foreign commentators took note of Trump’s arrogant handling of the pandemic, saying it was a grim reminder of a virus that was based on distinctions between rich or poor, weak or powerful.
Others suggested a degree of fairness in his diagnosis, given his track record of lowering the threat of the virus, rejecting simple precautions such as wearing a mask and holding campaign rallies without social distancing.
“When the president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, can contract this, the virus knows no borders,” said Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, an influential research group in Beijing. .
WASHINGTON – President Trump said early Friday that he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty and aggravating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000. Americans and devastated the economy.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19 ” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get out of this TOGETHER! “
Trump received the test results after one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, became infected, bringing the virus into her inner circle and underscoring the difficulty of containing it even with the resources of a president. Trump has for months downplayed the severity of the virus, saying at a political dinner Thursday night that “the end of the pandemic is in sight.”
Trump’s positive test result could pose immediate difficulties for the future of his campaign against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., his Democratic rival, with only 33 days to go before the Nov.3 election. Even if Trump, 74, remains asymptomatic, he will have to withdraw from the election campaign and remain isolated in the White House for an unknown period of time. If you get sick, you could raise questions about whether you should stay on the ballot.
Even if you do not become seriously ill, the positive test could prove devastating to your political fortunes, given the months that the pandemic has lessened in severity, even as the virus continued to ravage the country, killing an estimated 1,000 more Americans each day. He has repeatedly predicted that the virus “will disappear,” asserted that it was under control, and insisted that the country was “turning the corner” toward the end of the crisis. He has scorned the scientists, saying they were wrong about the seriousness of the situation.
Trump has for months refused to wear a mask in public on almost every occasion and repeatedly questioned its effectiveness while taunting Biden for wearing one. Lagging behind in polls, the president in recent weeks has organized increasingly crowded campaign events in defiance of public health guidelines and, at times, state and local governments.
Global markets tumbled early Friday morning after President Trump said he and Melania Trump, the first lady, had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Futures markets tracking US stocks pointed to Wall Street opening more than 1.5 percent lower.
European futures suggested that markets would open lower as well. Yields on US Treasuries also fell, as did futures that track crude oil prices.
The news casts doubt on the political leadership of the world’s largest economy. He also raises questions about his re-election campaign against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., his Democratic rival. Elections are scheduled for November 3, in just over a month.
In Japan, where the news broke at the end of the trading day, stocks closed nearly 0.8 percent lower after spending most of the day in positive territory. Most of the other Asian markets were closed for fall holidays.
Television news networks jumped into breaking news mode on Friday morning, lifting anchors and correspondents from their beds as the nation began to absorb the news about President Trump and the first lady.
Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, was asleep when the news broke. Within minutes, he was broadcasting live via a home video link. Ali Velshi took over as presenter on MSNBC.
On Fox News, host Sean Hannity, a close confidant of Mr. Trump, dialed in to declare the president “strong” and “healthy.” An evening host, Ashley Strohmier, later told Fox News viewers about the president: “Obviously, he doesn’t sleep. The man works 24/7. I feel like he’s awake every hour of the day. “
Trump’s former doctor Ronny Jackson called Fox News and tried to downplay concerns about Trump’s health.
“I bet you don’t develop symptoms,” Dr. Jackson said. “This does not become a big problem.”
The Secret Service suffered a coronavirus outbreak in August at its training facility in Maryland, evidence of how close the pandemic has been to President Trump in the weeks leading up to his infection.
At least 11 employees at the center in rural Maryland tested positive for the virus even after it was closed for several months to mitigate transmissions, according to officials briefed on the matter.
Some of the staff are believed to have contracted the virus during training exercises or at a graduation celebration at a nearby hotel where participants did not practice social distancing, the people said.
The agency declined to discuss the details of the outbreak, but said in a statement that it “has taken important precautions at its training center to protect the health and well-being of its trainees and training personnel.”
Details about the problem at the center were uncovered by the Government Oversight Project, an independent watchdog group in Washington. The organization took information about the outbreak to The New York Times, which independently confirmed the details of the outbreak with people briefed on the matter. Those people spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing sensitive personnel matters.
News from early Friday that the president and first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus gave the Secret Service outbreak a new relevance. Hours before that announcement, the White House confirmed that Hope Hicks, a close adviser to Trump, had been infected.
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